# You've just inherited $15,000... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 9, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546 "2003-01-09T17:20:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/41 "2003-01-10T00:55:52Z")
I’m salivating thinking about how many books $15,000 could buy. ---
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/42 "2003-01-10T01:15:02Z")
I’d buy my dream car - Chevy Nova. I don’t really have anything to pay off. I can splurge! Whee! 15 thousand, jeez. Just be glad you didn’t see how excited I got when I won 10 bucks on a lotto ticket. Sigh… ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/43 "2003-01-10T11:17:54Z")
15K? Invest in a stock of my choice, then get back to work. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/44 "2003-01-10T11:22:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest \* > Stuff a large chunk into an IRA. $5000. > > Invest a mutual fund. ($4000. split into half into two seperate funds: one long term growth, one mid cap.) > > Pay off the highest interest bills - $4000. > > Splurge on transient whims: (dinner/movies/cd, lottery tickets) $500 > > Splurge on more permanent things ( like a TV/computer) $500. Useless, you are spreading it too thinly. Unless you are loaded down with credit card debts, find a stock and put most of your money in it. No use for mutual funds - why pay a fee to somebody who plays with your money? That is just one of the dumbest ideas ever conceived IMO. Of course, the picking is a hard part, but you aren’t in any hurry. Take your time, do your homework. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/45 "2003-01-10T11:57:26Z")
[Here’s how I spent mine.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=139390&highlight=inheritance) ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/46 "2003-01-10T12:06:33Z")
You people with all your solid financial advice. Screw that! 15K isn’t enough to make me rich forever, so I’ll invest in something else. Using the Dutch retail price, I’d need an extra 2K for [this BMW R 1150 RT](http://www.bmwrt.com/images/r1150rt/blu-rt.jpg), but I think I can scrape 2K together somewhere. I might be dead tomorrow, or next year, or in 50. Who knows? I’ll take my chances on the present, and buy something that I can enjoy now. Which is not to say that I don’t save and invest - I do. But a nice little bonus like $15K would be spend on something nice, not something sensible. FWIW, the [Ducati ST4](http://www.wilsonsmc.com/ducati/01_models/images/st4.jpg) is another option, but I’m a little scared of the maintenance bills, compared to the BMW. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![manwithaplan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@manwithaplan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manwithaplan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/47 "2003-01-10T12:15:51Z")
I agree that it makes sense to pay off loans but, like **fretful porpentine** , my vote’s for travel. You don’t necessarily have to immerse yourself in south east Asian culture for 6 months or see the Amazonian rain forest but I couldn’t let a decent windfall go by without getting some sort of a holiday out of it. ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/48 "2003-01-10T17:09:26Z")
Actually, I’m waiting for my similar inheritance right now. The plan is to pay off my old bills, my current bills, and put a down payment on a house. Throw in some odds and ends (like a desperately needed additional computer) and I should have the entire thing spent relatively quickly. ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/49 "2003-01-10T17:32:30Z")
Since that money would almost double with the exchange rate, I’d move back to Oz for a while. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/50 "2003-01-10T19:54:49Z")
With 15K you could travel for a full year if you kept it cheap and don’t mind staying in hostels and the like. You could go from North Africa, across southern Europe, up Eastern Europe, across Russia, into China, and down to Vietnam and Cambodia. It’d be awesome! What’s the point of saving up if you are never going to experience life. Do something crazy and wonderful that will always be a part of you. The tough choice for me would be between travel and financing a short film. 15K doesn’t go far in the film world, but it’d be enough to make a good solid short film that could get into to festivals and hopefully lead to a lot more oppertunities in the field. At the very least, it’d buy me an XL1 (video camera), a couple lights and a reasonable sound setup. I could use that to make my own movies and also to start a videography business (shooting weddings and stuff) so that I can pay my rent while waiting to make it big. ---
**Author:** ![Skijumper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3e96dc/32.png) [@Skijumper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skijumper)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/51 "2003-01-10T20:21:40Z")
Thanks, all. Interesting advice - Now I’m even more torn. Well, I don’t have to pay a tax on it so it’s all mine. I don’t have any debts to pay off - no major credit card bills or loans. I’ve got a steady job that pays the monthy bills so this is actually spare change. I’ll probably take a little trip later this year. Maybe put some aside to help my girlfriend out when she goes off to do her postgraduate work at uni next year. Thing is, this is only part of the total sum. I think there’s another 100 grand coming at the end of the year so I guess I’d better start reading up on them stocks. Hark, do I hear a bunch of Italian and Russian poets at my door? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/52 "2003-01-10T22:14:42Z")
Wow. You \*are \* lucky! (My condolences if this is part of a will.) When feeling indecisive, the best thing to do is nothing regarding this money. Locking it up in some low rate CD for six months to ayear could help take the pressure off and give you some thinking room. Ask people you respect. Ask well dressed strangers whilst standing in line. You will get varying opinions which will be able to help you find your financial due north. Read up on it. Listen to those dull, dull, dull money talk shows on the radio. Listen to them until you start to grasp what they are talking about. Don’t do anything until you are confident with what you are doing is best for you. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/53 "2003-01-10T22:28:41Z")
It’s a great time to buy stocks. Buy an index fund. They are cheap and end up out-performing the proffessionally managed funds because of their diversity and low cost. The Motley Fool is a great website that has an index fund guide. They also have a nice . If you are intimidated by stocks and investing and don’t know where to start seek the advice of a financial planner.[60 second quide to index funds](http://www.fool.com/60second/indexfund.htm?ref=prmpgid) ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/54 "2003-01-10T22:33:19Z")
While they do have many nice "."s on thier page, what I clearly meant to say was they have a nice [60 second guide to index funds.](http://www.fool.com/60second/indexfund.htm?ref=prmpgid) ---
**Author:** ![Stccrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Stccrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stccrd)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/55 "2003-01-10T23:22:00Z")
15 grand? Hmm. - Invest. 2/3rd’s of it. In Gold. - Splurge on car mods. ---
**Author:** ![Zweistein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/54ee81/32.png) [@Zweistein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zweistein)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546/56 "2003-01-10T23:24:37Z")
I’d buy my girlfriend some flowers. And a bottle of champagne. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-just-inherited-15-000/147546.md?page=2)